Constellation Aircraft - May 17, 2021 at 7:37 pm | # June 13, 2021 at 3:55 am | # In 1973 it was flown to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center (MASDC) at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona.
But it wasn't until 1981 that the Department of Defense put it up for sale. Besides being the last long-haul piston-engined airliner to dominate the skies before the advent of the jet era of travel, the Lockheed Super Constellation has a special place in the history of Australia's flag carrier airline, Qantas, and, by extension, of
Constellation Aircraft
Australian aviation. I was a navigator on the 121 in 1962-3, flying from Navy Moffet Field in Calif. to Travis where we picked up our passengers to the Far East, stopping for fuel at Hickam AFB, Wake, Guam, Midway.
Shea Oakley
In 1963 we converted to the C-130. In the C-121 we never flew above 12,000′. That was tough for us navs because we were sometimes in the clouds which made the sexton useless. No such problem in the C-130s–flew above the clouds mostly.
Jack Williams In the years to come, the plane would be named the Constellation—Connie for short—and be flown by airlines around the world, as well as the U.S. military over the ensuing three decades. Eventually, it would be remembered as an enduring symbol, the epitome of grace in propeller-driven aircraft.
But at that moment in 1939 in Los Angeles, the Lockheed Corporation was focused on winning over one customer and one customer only. His name was Howard Hughes. I GREW UP IN LOWER BUCKS CO. & SOUTH JERSEY.
I REMEMBER PASSING THROUGH PENDELL AND SEEING THIS C-121 SITTING ATOP OF FLANNERY'S REST. SO I THINK IS FITTING TO SEE THAT IT IS NOW AT DOVER.. February 23, 2019 at 12:02 am | # March 28, 2019 at 4:39 am
Bill Sather
| # I worked for “Capitol Airways” 1965-1966, before joining the USAF. Capitol flew charter flights, my job was setting up the interior with the proper number of seats and galley needed for the charter. I had a few short flights on, “Super Constellation, serial number 4557″
Now I am a volunteer at the AMC museum Lockheed also commissioned smaller models to promote the Constellation. While the smaller models were not made by Lockheed “in house”, they were still “factory issued”. These smaller models were made in CA by other vendors who did metal casting.
February 8, 2019 at 3:20 am | # On March 14, 1947, the initial L-749 conducted its maiden flight. In the same month, the aircraft was granted its certification. On April 18, 1947, the first L-749 Constellation was sent to Air France.
In June of the same year, Pan American World Airways obtained its first L-749. Schaarschmidt had a close relationship with Deutsch Lufthansa, and Germany's national airline was their best customer. Schaarschmidt made Constellation models of the 049, 1049, and the 1649. Most of the models were cast aluminum made in two pieces consisting of a solid fuselage and a separate one-piece wing.
George F Handel
February 4, 2021 at 3:03 am | # As a military “brat” of maybe 10 (at the time it was Navy) we flew from Clark AFB, we were stationed at Sangley Point but its runway was too short, to the U.S.
aboard one of these grand ladies. I remember my canvas covered port side window seat gave me a grand view of her engines of which one of them kept quitting making us land at both Guam and Wake while awaiting replacements.
I was with my mother and brother of 3, who was seated behind me and afforded the luxury of having his seat back laid forward and flat to make a baby bed. I was not able to recline a degree due to this and was never so happy to disembark at the journey's end.
In 1939, the top brass of the Lockheed Corporation—president Robert Gross, chief engineer Hall Hibbard, and chief research engineer Kelly Johnson—scheduled a key meeting with a VIP, a man with deep pockets who had recently shown an interest in buying not just
Anthony Lawler
one or a handful of new planes but a fleet of them. The Lockheed L-749 Constellation is designed and manufactured by Lockheed Corporation and is the first Constellation to routinely fly nonstop on transatlantic routes. It was developed from the L-649 but with more fuel capacity, stronger undercarriage, and equipped with weather radar.
The L-749 Constellation was produced from 1947 to 1951 and was retired in 1993 with a total of 119 aircraft built. Raise Up Models of Rotterdam, Holland was perhaps the most prolific of all the aluminum model makers.
Raise Up produced thousands of models for the airlines from the 1940s to the mid-1960s. They made gads of Constellations in scales ranging from approx. 1/200 scale to 1/43rd scale. Raise Up Connie models were not always accurate (wings, noses, and tails), but, every now and then they would get it right and turn out a super nice replica.
Exposed to the tropical sun and rain in a corner of Manila International Airport, where its previous owners abandoned it after getting embroiled in a protracted legal battle, this sleek, beautiful plane was likely destined for the scrapheap.
Philip Kemp
Manufacturer models of the Lockheed Constellation were made by many companies, so numerous, that this article cannot cover them all. Here is a short list of other major makers of “Vintage” Constellation models not covered in this article.
Fifty-five percent of the Super Constellations built by Lockheed were delivered to the U.S. Navy and Air Force. A majority of the aircraft were used for electronic reconnaissance and airborne early warning. In the mid-1960s, the Air Force sent the first EC-121 “Warning Star” to Southeast Asia to maintain radar surveillance over North Vietnam and then later to warn of MIG attacks and alert American pilots who were straying over Chinese territory.
I just saw a “polished aluminum” (my guess) Connie model in an antique shop window in Wenatchee WA. The price was $500. Beautiful model with about a 2′ wingspan (also a guess). On a stand, props and all.
Note says they believe it was from Air France. Side numbers were letters only. No other airline markings. On Wenatchee Ave., right downtown. Just thought I would mention it. Dave Bowen The military adapted the plane for its further use in the 1950s and 60s by modifying it for radar and using it as an aerial extension of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, and in aiding in the rescue of downed aircraft in Southeast Asia.
John Hyle
In addition, the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) used a fleet of 70 C-121s from 1948 to 1967. Having purchased a majority stake in TWA airlines earlier that year, Hughes saw the Constellation as his secret weapon in stealing market share from his competitors.
He treated the project with all the subterfuge that secret weapons require. Not only did he demand total secrecy, but also specified that Lockheed could not sell the aircraft to any other transcontinental airline until TWA had received 35 of them.
May 3, 2021 at 6:12 pm | # June 4, 2019 at 12:57 am | # December 24, 2021 at 10:20 am | # As the Connie was designed to change the face of commercial flight—it was as experimental, in some ways, as the early commercial aircraft of the late 1920s—there were issues during its infancy.
Lockheed was flexing the limits of piston-engine technology, and the engine's complex design required maintenance, and sometimes replacement parts, at rates that would be considered unacceptable with the upcoming introduction of jet airplanes. President Eisenhower was a big fan of the Connie, and his personal presidential plane, the only VC-121E built, was the first to bear the now-recognized moniker “Air Force One” when the president was onboard.
Shea Oakley
All told, the U.S. military bought nearly 40 percent of all the Constellations ever manufactured, using them over nearly three decades, with aircraft serving well into the 1970s. January 22, 2022 at 10:43 pm | #
Layer upon layer of silt had buried the aircraft's undercarriage. It had to be dug out and new wheels brought in from the US for the aircraft to be rolled to firmer ground by the Qantas Engineering Aircraft Recovery Team.
A great article. My deceased father flew the constellation for Capital Airlines in the 50's and my 84 year old mom was an air hostess for them as well. If anyone knows where I can purchase a Connie or other Capital aircraft, please email me.
Thanks, Mike ## Comment SPAM Protection: Shield Security marked this comment as “Pending Moderation”. Reason: Failed AntiBot Verification ## Hello - I have a constellation model about 9 in long well executed metal model with Lockheed decals.
Shea Oakley
It has cast wheels/gear (wheels rotate). No propellers. Looks like a high end 50s executive display with somewhat toylike wheels for the kid in all of us. Does anyone recognize this mode?? Regards Clark Clark The L-749 was fitted with four Wright R-3350-749C18BD-1 Duplex-Cyclone engines.
It is a twin-row eighteen-cylinder radial engine with two pushrod valves each cylinder, a two-speed single-stage supercharger, a Chandler-Evans downdraft carburetor fuel system, dry sump oil system, and an air cooling system. The engine produces a maximum power of 2,500 hp each and drives a three-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propeller.
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